Small vehicles, such as compact and subcompact automobiles, often have a number of advantages over large vehicles. Among the advantages are fuel economy, sporty handling characteristics and ease of parking. A significant drawback of small vehicles, however, is limited cargo hauling capacity.
Vehicle manufacturers have attempted to increase the cargo hauling capacity of small vehicles in a number of ways, such as by providing folding and/or removable rear seats. While these features increase the cargo hauling capacity of small vehicles somewhat, it is still not possible to carry large or unwieldy objects due to the physical constraints of the cargo compartment, which is usually defined by a deck floor, a pair of spaced-apart body sidewalls and a roof. Furthermore, it is inconvenient and can require significant effort to remove the seats from the vehicle, to say nothing of the logistics often required to temporarily store the removed seats and then retrieve and reinstall them once the cargo has been unloaded.
Another attempt to increase the cargo hauling capacity of small vehicles is by including a pass-through opening in the rear seats of the vehicle. The opening is typically accessed by folding a portion of the rear seats. While useful for hauling lengthy objects such as lumber and skis, the opening is relatively small and is of little use for hauling large objects such as boxes and bicycles.
Many small vehicles now have roof-mounted luggage racks for carrying large objects. The objects are placed onto the rack and are usually secured to siderails of the rack with rope or straps. However, this has its drawbacks. For example, the cargo is subject to falling from the vehicle during transport.
Faced with the aforementioned shortcomings, many small vehicle owners simply raise a rear liftback door of the vehicle to an open position and allow the cargo to extend out of the rear of the vehicle. This creates the potential for damage to a window portion of the liftback unless the cargo is properly secured. Furthermore, the cargo is subject to falling from the vehicle during transport, and can also be a safety hazard if the vehicle is involved in a traffic accident There is a need for a safe and convenient way to haul large objects with a small vehicle.